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This is my first post in one of these forums. Hope I'm doing it all right...

Hey Steve. You've basically become my new personal trainer and I just watched your youtube video about splits vs full-body workouts. I've just progressed from your beginner's full-body workout (muscleandstrength.com/workouts/strength-bulk-beginner-workout-linear-progression) and just started your recommended compound-only workout which is a split (muscleandstrength.com/workouts/21-compound-exercises-only-workout.html) as right now my goal is mass gain.

This all being said, it seems like, in your opinion, the first workout is more along the lines of what I should be doing due to everything you mentioned in your video. So now I'm planning to run this compound-only workout for a couple months (since I've already started it) and then switch back to a full-body workout. Does this sound like a good plan?

Ah... I probably should have stuck with the first one since I was still making gains on it. Anyway, I'll run this one like you said for a couple months or so and see what happens. Thanks a lot for your help!

BBOD, I am thinking of doing Madcow 5x5. I was doing a sort of Texas Method hybrid for my bench and SS type thing for my legs ( as i have been squatting for under a year) and it was working well. However, I have been training for 4 months without a break which is fine normally except my strength seems to be regressing in my bench and upper body lifts.

This is due to some overreaching on my part and messing up the percentages on volume day- i was using over 90 per cent of my 5RM whereas Rip recommends 90%- but i was thinking that i could do the first 4 weeks of Madcow as a sort of semi-deload (as it will ramp up to my previous 5 RM). Do you think this is a good idea?

I really liked the article about natural bodybuilding and how big you can get. It really opened my eyes. All the physiques those guys have are pretty decent, I actually expected them to look a lot smaller, because my perspective was too low.

"No citizen has a right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training…what a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable." – Socrates

"No citizen has a right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training…what a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable." – Socrates

I've been watching a few CT Fletcher videos on YouTube and there's some decent lifting going on but he dismisses overtraining,saying it doesn't exist and advocates penitentiary style training which isn't always correct form or full ROM. Also he says he's 100% natural despite the fact,he's huge and very lean.
What's your thoughts on CT Fletcher and his advice/training methods?

I've been watching a few CT Fletcher videos on YouTube and there's some decent lifting going on but he dismisses overtraining,saying it doesn't exist and advocates penitentiary style training which isn't always correct form or full ROM. Also he says he's 100% natural despite the fact,he's huge and very lean.
What's your thoughts on CT Fletcher and his advice/training methods?

Been wondering about this myself (mostly the second part). [edit - just googled CT Fletcher and actually I was thinking of Kali Muscle]

If you mean more optimally than steady state cardio like treadmill, yes.

BUT, if you compared the differences in calories burned over the course of a year, you will see it doesn't matter much what form of cardio you do, as long as you do some.

If circuit work helps you burn 20 more calories per workout compared to a treadmill, that equates to only 3,120 calories per year burned if you do it 3x a week. That's less than a pound of fat per year.

Diet is a much better way of controlling fat. Do whatever form of cardio you enjoy for health, reduce fat with diet.

Unless you are dialing in for a show, then 20 calories per workout will matter.